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Description of Brunei in 1700

I was looking up something on The Brunei Museum Journal (1978) when I came across this map showing the Island of Borneo drawn way back in 1700s more than 300 years ago. The island is this unfamiliar shape but has some rudimentary look of how the actual Borneo Island is shaped. The cartographer who did this probably has more data on the southern part of the island as that is more developed and less knowledge on the top half of the island. I had a hard time searching where Brunei was located. I found it and circled it red.

The actual book was written by Rev Dr Francis Valentyn who was with the Dutch Reformed Church and was a missionary to the Indies in the late 1600s and early 1700s. He collected a lot of material and published in eight volumes entitled Oud en Niew Oust Indien (The Old and New East Indies) sometimes between 1724 and 1726. He also wrote a bit about Brunei including this short passage about us Bruneians in the past:

"... Further north or rather NNW, resides the King of Borneo in a village of the same name. The village is also situated on a very large river with a collosal bay, protected by the east and west by a reef with three small islands just in front of it. There are another three islands 12 1/2 miles ouside the reef, Poelo Tiga and another one named Monpaciam as well as a small unnamed island. Near these island is another reef extending itself in northeasterly-northwesterly directions ..."

"... Some people consider him the head king of the island and his village the capital city. The village is situated in a large swamp, which is innundated most of the time, so that it is necessary to use boats to reach the houses, about 2,000 - 3,000 in number, which are made of wood. The people are armed with bow and arrows. Whoever gets hit by their arrows is usually a dead man. They are strong, well built men, disloyal and untrustworthy in character, as our people have had to experience ..."

Poelo Tiga is actually Labuan. I did not know that it was Pulau Tiga in the past. There is some more description about Brunei but it was a tad too long. Maybe another time.

DESPITE first making its appearance in the Sultanate during the 1940s, Kuih Mor continues to be a household favourite today as a tea time snack or festive treat particularly during Hari Raya Aidil Fitri.

Siti Norhafizah Hj Bagol, a final year student at Universiti Brunei Darussalam who researched on Kuih Mor as part of her Brunei Traditional Industry module, said the three-ingredient sweet treat may have existed in Brunei as early as the 1940s when padi was known to have been grown to make different food items.

Over time, the cookie has also become a popular door-gift choice often handed out at Malay weddings or gatherings, said Siti Norhafizah.

Made with flour, oil and granulated sugar which have been ground into a powder, the bite-sized biscuits have a crumbly texture and are coated with powdered sugar.

The age-old technique of making Kuih Mor by hand has however changed over the course of time, with many now opt…

BY COMMAND of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, the Prime Minister’s Office hereby announces that His Majesty has consented to the transfer and appointment of the following senior officers – Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Juanda bin Haji Abdul Rashid, Permanent Secretary (Law and Welfare) at the Prime Minister’s Office as well as the Director of Anti-Corruption Bureau and Solicitor General has been transferred to the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports as the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports; and Datin Elinda binti Haji CA Mohamed, Special Senior Duties Officer, Ministry of Home Affairs has been appointed as Permanent Secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office and Director of Anti-Corruption Bureau.